Special Session

Theory and Philosophy / French and Francophone

Nan Darbous Marthaller (Faulkner University)
nane@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

Letizia Cipriani (University of Niccolò Cusano)
leti@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

In accordance with the conference theme, “Palimpsests: Memory and Oblivion,” the work of French philosopher Henri Bergson is more than relevant. Bergson’s Matter and Memory published in 1896 explores not only how memory functions in human activity, but the levels of memory and its importance to our lives. This session features papers that explore the many facets of Bergson’s philosophy especially those related to the conference theme.

In accordance with the conference theme, “Palimpsests: Memory and Oblivion,” the work of French philosopher Henri Bergson is more than relevant. Bergson’s Matter and Memory published in 1896 explores not only how memory functions in human activity, but the levels of memory and its importance to our lives.

Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1927 “in recognition of his rich and vitalizing ideas and the brilliant skill with which they have been presented,” Bergson drew on descriptive and visual models to demonstrate complex ideas. He was a pioneering philosopher showing interest in film, utilizing the flow of moving images to explain concepts of memory and relativity. Questions of memory surround and even permeate Bergson philosophy.

In addition to the questions related to Bergson’s philosophy of memory, on a deeper and more complex layer, there are questions of translating the inner experience of consciousness, the “ineffable” immediate feeling involved in each moment as having a singularly unique nuance. Bergson's point is clear in the case of the peculiarity of each sui generis effort and idea of an artist. No less rich is every moment of our own inner life, even if we lack the words to express it, or the attentiveness to appreciate it. As poet Paul Valery said, "The most powerful and unprecedented images and metaphors obeyed [Bergson's] desire to reconstruct, in the consciousness of others, the discoveries he made in his own, and the results of his internal experiments." Bergson makes memory and intuition a fundamental goal of all philosophy.

This session invites papers that explore the many facets of Bergson’s philosophy especially those related to the conference theme.